BTen: Westlake too much for Royals in CIF opener

Kento Perera delivered in winning two of his three sets, but it wasn’t enough for the San Marcos boys tennis team as the Royals suffered a 16-2 defeat at Westlake on Wednesday in the first round of the CIF Division 1 playoffs.

Perera, the Channel League’s singles champion, took down Westlake’s Branden Lam without faltering a single game before going on to defeat Andrew Whitehouse 6-2. Perera’s only loss of the day came in a 6-1 decision against Cody Lin.

“More so than any other team I’ve coached, this team has responded to adversity with increased effort and a positive attitude,” said coach Jarrod Bradley. “They’ve personified what high school athletics should be all about: learning to work together as a team while competing at a high level. I’m proud of our six seniors and we will definitely miss them tremendously next year.”

Although the Royals’ season has come to close, certain trails remain as Perera and fellow teammate Lars Scannell will go on to compete in the CIF Southern Section Individual Regional tournament on May 28th.

San Marcos falls to a 9-9 record in their final match of the year while Westlake improves to 17-1.